SACRED HEART WINS CLOSE ONE OVER CROOKSTON SOFTBALL 3-2

The Sacred Heart Eagles won a close one over the Crookston Pirates, 3-2 in Crookston. 

First Inning-
In the first inning, Sacred Heart’s Izzy Cwikla drew a walk, then stole a base to get to second with only one out. Kresl was able to get a strikeout, but Lexi Lawrence for Sacred Heart popped one up on the right side of the infield that the Pirates couldn’t field cleanly, as Cwikla was able to round third and score to give Sacred Heart an early 1-0 lead. The Eagles drew another walk, but the Pirates got out of the inning with a ground out that Danielle Kresl fielded cleanly and fired to first for the final out.
In the bottom of the first, Emily Bowman drew a walk, then stole two bases and was able to make it home safely on a passed ball to tie it up at one. Kresl drew a walk for the Pirates and was able to get to second base. Reese Swanson was hit by a pitch, but Sacred Heart was able to get two quick outs to end the inning. 

Second Inning-
In the second inning, Kresl struck out the side while Pulkrabek was able to get three strikeouts as well to keep it a 1-1 game. 

Third Inning-
In the third inning, Sacred Heart’s Leah Sundby got a base hit for the Eagles and, after a couple of passed balls, was able to get around to score the Eagles. Sacred Heart drew three walks to load the bases but Kresl got a strikeout to end the top half of the inning as Sacred Heart led 2-1.
In the bottom of the third, Kresl drew a walk, and so did Madilyn Bruggeman, but Pulkrabek got the next three batters out to get out of the jam and keep it at 2-1 with Sacred Heart on top. 

Fourth Inning-
In the fourth, Kresl recorded her sixth strikeout of the game to start the inning. Sacred Heart got a base runner with a walk before Kresl forced a pair of groundouts to end the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Pulkrabek got her seventh strikeout as the Eagles forced Crookston to go three up, three down to maintain a 2-1 lead.

Fifth Inning-
In the top of the fifth, Sacred Heart drew a walk, but Crookston was able to get three outs, including Kresl’s seventh strikeout of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, Pulkrabek struck out the side to keep Sacred Heart’s lead at 2-1. 

Sixth Inning-
In the sixth inning, the Eagles drew one walk again, but the Pirates were able to get three outs to head to the bottom of the sixth, still trailing by one. In the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates got their first hit of the game when Kambelle Freiji got a single with one out, but the Pirates weren’t able to score and still trailed 2-1. 

Seventh Inning-
In the top of the seventh, Crookston got the first two outs of the inning before Lexi Lawrence reached base on an error. Teagan Johnson drove her in with a triple as she blasted the ball into right field. Sacred Heart added to their lead to make it 3-1. The Pirates got out of the jam with the final out of the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Crookston drew a walk before Emily Bowman dropped a bunt down to put runners on first and second with only one out. Then Kresl got on with a bunt to load up the bases. Madilyn Bruggeman hit a single and drove in a run for Crookston to make it 3-2 with the bases still loaded and only one out. Pulkrabek was able to get the next batter to pop out to Lawrence at first for the second out and the following batter to pop out to third base to end the game, and Sacred Heart took the win 3-2. 

Crookston drops to 0-1 on the season and will face West Marshall on Tuesday. Sacred Heart improves to 1-0 on the year and will take on East Grand Forks next week. 

Click here for Coach Bowman’s post-game interview. 

Click here for Coach Bales’s post-game interview.

For CROOKSTON

Madilyn Bruggeman- 1-3, 1RBI
Emily Bowman- 1-3, 1R, 1 BB

For Sacred Heart

Teagan Johnson- 1-1, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Leah Sundby- 1-4, 1R